Apparatus for feeding cigarettes



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [/2 ma zor s. maa M3 y 24% ffflume qf D. W. MOLINS L I APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CIGARET'IES Original Filed Nov. 11, 1967 Oct. 20, 1970 n. w. MOLINS ET AL m w M M? wv m mm APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CIGARETTES Oct. 20, 1970 Original Filed Nov. 11, 1967 United States Patent 3,535,069 APPARATUS FOR FEEDING QIGARETTES Desmond Walter Molins, Alan Keith McCombie, and

Ronald S. C. Barton, Deptford, London, England, assignors to Molins Machine Company Limited, Deptford, London, England, a corporation of Great Britain Continuation of application Ser. No. 608,586, Jan. 11, 1967. This application Mar. 12, 1969, Ser. No. 806,387 The portion of the term of the patent subsequent to Mar. 18, 1986, has been disclaimed Int. Cl. B65g 47/44 US. Cl. 19869 21 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to a conveyor for supplying a continuous flow of articles such as cigarettes to one or more chutes. At least one reservoir is provided for receiving excess articles which back up when the conveyor feeds articles at a faster rate than the chute can receive them. The reservoir also serves to return articles to the conveyor when there is again room on it. A follower member in the reservoir responds to changes in the number of articles in the reservoir and is operatively connected to regulating means controlling the speed of the conveyor or to stop and start it. Mechanical means is provided for preventing changing of articles at the mouth of the chute.

This application is a continuing application of the parent application Ser. No. 608,586, filed Ian. 11, 1967 now Pat. No. 3,433,347.

This invention concerns improvements to article conveying systems and, in particular, to means by which the flow of articles can be regulated to accommodate small changes in the flow rate.

Whilst the invention concerns article conveying systems in general, it is particularly suited to a conveying system in which cigarettes are moved in a direction transversely of their axes from cigarette making machines to one or more packing machines. The mass of cigarettes are confined between two horizontally moving conveyor bands. The first packing machine lies below the level of the bottom of the two bands and is provided with a vertical chute by which cigarettes can pass to it. Opposite this chute is a vertical passage within which fits a member riding on top of the cigarettes. Thus this member rises or falls as cigarettes fill the passage or as their level drops. The passage and the member form a reservoir of variable capacity. Opposite the horizontal bands conveying the incoming mass are two further horizontal confining bands leading to the next packing machine where vertical chute, passage and member are repeated. At the last machine a blank wall is opposed to the incoming cigarette flow but the remaining apparatus is repeated. The height of a member in a vertical passage can be used to vary the speed of the two horizontal bands conveying the incoming cigarettes. Means such as rotating drums or pulsating membranes are provided at each chute to prevent cigarettes jamming in the mouth of the chute.

It has been proposed and disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,297,138 dated Jan. 10, 1967 to provide cigarette-feeding means including a reservoir or storage space in which cigarettes can be accumulated and from which they may be dispensed according to variations in supply and demand.

It is an object of this invention to provide improvements in such apparatus whereby variations in demand from a packing machine or from any other machine can be locally accommodated without such variation being Patented Oct. 20, 1970 necessarily reflected in a changein the main reservoir or storage space.

According to the invention there is provided an article conveying system, comprising means to confine a flow of articles moving therethrough, a delivery outlet towards which said articles are moved, a relief outlet and a reservoir associated therewith said reservoir having a wall movable to vary its capacity and biased into engagement with said articles whereby disturbances in the flow of said articles can be accommodated.

Further according to the invention there is provided apparatus for feeding cigarettes from a cigarette making machine or the like to a packing machine comprising a conveyor system for conveying cigarettes moving in a direction transverse to their axes, a hopper chute leading to said packing machine and adapted to receive cigarettes from said conveyor system, and a reservoir, one wall of which is variable so as to vary the capacity of the reservoir and is biased into engagement with the cigarettes.

Flow controlling apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

'FIG. 1 is a side elevation of cigarette feeding apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a plan of part of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an alternative arrangement to that shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, hopper chutes 1 and 2 lead directly to the hoppers of packing machines which are not illustrated. In the apparatus disclosed in US. Pat No. 3,297,138 dated Jan. 10, 1967 of which apparatus the mechanism of FIGS. 1 and 2 might form part, a plurality of cigarette-making machines are linked to a plurality of packing machines. The chute 2 leads to the last of these packing machines and the chute 1 to the penultimate machine. If there are only two packing machines then the chute 1 belongs to the first machine and the chute 2 to the second.

Cigarettes from the plurality of cigarette-making machines rest on a conveyor band 3 by which they are conveyed in the direction indicated by arrow 5. A top conveyor band 4 moving in the direction of arrow 6 assists this conveyance the two bands forming a conveyor complex. At one end of the conveyor band 3, adjacent to pulley 11 which can be driven at variable speed, is left hand side wall 7 of the chute 1 which directs cigarettes in a downward direction to the hopper of a packing machine which is not shown.

Immediately above the chute 1 is an associated reservoir indicated generally as 8. This reservoir extends in an upward direction with its left hand wall 9 abutting pulley 10, of the conveyor 4, which is normally synchronised with conveyor 3. Right hand walls 12 and 13 of the chute 1 and the reservoir 8 respectively are immediately adjacent to pulleys 14 and 15. These pulleys 14 and 15 are the tail pulleys of further conveyor complex, i.e. bands 16 and 17 respectively, which move in the same general direction as the conveyors 3 and 4 as indicated by arrows 18 and 19.

The conveyor bands 16 and 17 are driven by driving pulleys 20 and 21 respectively. Adjacent the pulley 20 is the chute 2 leading in a downward direction to the last packing machine and having confining walls 22 and 23. Above the chute 2 is an associated reservoir shown generally as 24 and provided with side walls 25 and 26.

Joining the walls 23 and 26 is a shaped plate 27 which is pierced in two places to allow a flexible strip 28 to be threaded therethrough. The bottom of the strip 28 is secured by means of a spring 35 to an anchor 29 while the top is bolted at 30 to a bell crank lever 31 which pivots about a pin 32, being actuated by a hexagonal cam 33 bearing against roller 34. On rotation of the cam 33 the strip 28 forms a pulsating surface.

The reservoirs 8 and 24 will now be described in greater detail. In the former, which can be seen also in plan view in FIG. 2, a float 36 movable within the walls 9 and 13 rests on top of the cigarettes which, in general, are passing from the conveyor 3 to the conveyor 16 over a bridge formed by the cigarettes in chute 1, which may or may not be moving down the chute. Thus the bottom of the float forms a movable wall to the reservoir 8. Behind the float 36 as seen when looking at FIG. 1 is a rotary pick-off 37, its rotor having an extended spindle 38 to which is fixed an arm 39. The upstanding end of the arm 39 passes through an opening 40 in a plate 41 fixed to the float 36 by means of screw 42.

In the reservoir 24 a further float 43 which is slidable within the walls 25 and 26 rests on top of the cigarettes which ultimately move downwards into the chute 2. The bottom of this float 43 also forms a movable wall in the reservoir 24. Attached to the float 43 is a face 44 inclined at an angle to the vertical which is, of course, the path along which the float 43 is movable. Riding on the face 44 is a roller 45 of a microswitch 46.

The operation of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is as follows. Sufficient cigarettes to keep the two packing machines fed from the chutes 1 and 2 are carried by the conveyor 3 in the direction of the arrow 5. This conveying is assisted by the other conveyor 4 of the conveyor complex, the bottom run of which moves in the same direction as the top run of the conveyor 3. The arrangement permits a definite quantity of cigarettes to be fed for any band speed of the two conveyors 3 and 4.

These cigarettes are delivered to what is in effect a vertically disposed cross-roads formed by a four-fold junction, being (a) the delivery route between conveyors 3 and 4, (b) the continuation of this delivery route to the chute 2, i.e. the route between the conveyors 16 and 17, (c) the route to the first packing machine, i.e. the chute 1, and (d) the route to the reservoir 8. Thus any particular cigarette delivered to this cross-road can take one of three routes according to the conditions prevailing.

In general there are three operating conditions which may be called X, Y and Z. These conditions are as follows:

X. When all of the apparatus including the two packing machines and the plurality of cigarette-making machine is operating. In this condition substantially half the cigarettes delivered along route (a) to the crossroads will pass along route (c) to the chute 1 of the first packing machine with the remainder passing along route (b) over the tops of those taking the route (c) journey. The latter cigarettes in fact form a bridge over which the route (b) cigarettes pass. This condition then applies when the total number of cigarettes supplied along route (a) per unit of time is the same as the total number used by the two packing machines in the same time unit.

Y. This condition applies when the cigarettes supplied along route (a) exceeds those used by the two packing machines. Such a state of affairs might be caused by either packing machine being stopped or running at less than its optimum speed or by a temporary blockage. Whichever packing machine is at fault, the same effect will be the result, i.e. cigarettes will arrive at the cross roads and find the way blocked along both route (b) and route (c). The only way for them will be along route (d). In moving along this route the cigarettes push the float 36 ahead of them. As the plate 41 is fixed to the float it too moves upwards thereby causing the arm 39 which is threaded through the opening 40 to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction (as seen when looking at FIG. 1) about its pivot being the spindle 38 of the pick-off 37 which is part of a proportional servo system. By the change in position of the rotor of the pick-off the servo system causes the variable speed drive to the conveyors 3 and 4 to be reduced. Reduction in speed of the conveyors 3 and 4 leads to equilibrium whereby the supply is matched by the total demand from the two packing machines. This equilibrium is achieved however with the float 36 remaining in its higher position.

Z. The third condition in the converse of the second i.e. when the total demand exceeds the supply. In this case more cigarettes are passing through routes (b) and (c) than can be supplied by route (a). The initial deficiency is made good from the reserve within the reservoir 8 so that the level falls and with it the float 36. In this case the drop of the plate 41 causes the arm 39 to rotate the pick-off rotor in a clockwise direction. The servo system now operating in the opposite direction causes the variable speed drive to speed up the conveyors 3 and 4 until equilibrium of supply and demand is again reached.

The reservoir 24 located above the chute 2 operates rather differently. The rise and fall of the float 43 therein, again caused by pressure of cigarettes rising or falling, operates a simple on-off microswitch which is connected to the drive units of the pulleys 20 and 21. Thus the conveyors 16 and 17 are either conveying or stopped.

If the last packing machine, i.e. the one fed by the chute 2, has a reduced demand or is stopped or if a blockage occurs, condition Y outlined above comes into force. At the same time pressure of cigarettes being fed along route (b) i.e. between the conveyors 16 and 17 causes the float 43 to rise and the reservoir 24 itself to be filled. As the float 43 rises the slope of the face 44 allows the roller 45 of the microswitch 46 to move to the left (as seen when facing FIG. 1) until at a predetermined position contact is broken in the microswitch and the drives to the pulleys 20 and 21 discontinue thereby stopping the conveyors 16 and 17.

When the demand of the last packing machine is again fully resumed the reverse procedure occurs so that the reservoir 24 empties. The microswitch contact is made and the conveyors 16 and 17 resume carrying cigarettes through route (0).

It will be readily seen that the two reservoirs 8 and 24 and their attendant switching arrangements take care of every possible set of contingencies, i.e. small reductions in demand or complete stoppages of one or both packing machines.

At the top of the chutes 1 and 2 it is possible that the cigarettes jam in what might be considered as the throat of the chute. Such a jam results in a bridge forming, below which the chute is starved and above which other cigarettes are supported. To prevent this happening the far side of the chute (considered in the direction in which cigarettes are being conveyed) is provided with a movable (i.e. rotating or oscillating) portion. For chute 1 this portion is the return pulley 14 while for the chute 2 it is the flexible strip 28 which is caused to move upwards against the action of the spring 35 by the cam 33 and the bell crank lever 31. Thus the entry to both chutes 1 and 2 are maintained free of jams or blockages.

FIG. 3 shows variations in the details of the jam-freeing mechanism. In this drawing like parts are given like references. For chute 1 the return roller 14 is moved to the right and an additional roller 51 is supplied. This rotates, usually in an anti-clockwise direction, and possesses the advantage over the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 that it is always rotating even when the conveyor 16 is stopped. For the chute 2 a similar anti-clockwise rotating roller 52 replaces the strip 28. Here again the advantage lies in that the roller 52 is always rotating whereas the strip 28 is intermittently operated and after each operation moves downwards to its original position. Thus in freeing a jam it can immediately reverse the freedom so that the cigarettes again lock. The arrangement in FIG. 3 helps to eliminate both these faults.

It will be noted that the pulley 51 is rotating in an anti-clockwise direction (as seen when looking at FIG. 3). This together with similar direction of rotation of the pulleys 10 and 15 tends to cause those cigarettes in the middle of the cross-roads to assume, in addition to their other movements an anti-clockwise vertical movement which is considered to help in maintaining control of the cigarettes.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An article conveying system comprising conveyor means to convey and confine a flow of articles along a flow path, article-receiving means towards which articles in said flow path are conveyed, a reservoir to receive articles and located adjacent said flow path, means defining an opening to said reservoir by which the reservoir communicates with said flow path, said opening enabling articles to move into the reservoir from the flow path and into the flow path from the reservoir, said reservoir including a pair of substantially parallel side walls extending transversely of the flow path and a back wall between said side walls movable towards and away from said opening to vary the capacity of the reservoir, thereby to accommodate in the reservoir fluctuations in the flow rate of said articles.

2. An article conveying system according to claim 1 comprising sensing means to detect said fluctuations in the flow rate of said articles.

3. An article conveying system according to claim 2 wherein said sensing means is responsive to movement of said movable wall caused by fluctuations in the flow rate of said articles, and is operative to control the conveyor means to vary the flow rate of said articles, said movable wall being biased to engage articles in the reser voir and to be moved thereby.

4. An article conveying system according to claim 1 further comprising a passage communicating with said flow path to receive articles therefrom and through which articles can pass to said article-receiving means.

5. An article conveying system according to claim 1 including a passage having an entrance communicating with said flow path to receive articles therefrom, and through which articles can pass to said article-receiving means and means adjacent said entrance to prevent choking of articles entering said passage comprising a member and means to pulsate said member.

6. A conveyor system for conveying cigarettes from at least one cigarette-making machine to at least one packing machine, comprising conveyor means to convey cigarettes in a direction transverse to their axes, at least one hopper chute leading to a packing machine and arranged to receive cigarettes from said conveyor means, and at least one reservoir located adjacent said conveyor means and having an opening through which cigarettes can move into and out of the reservoir from and to said conveyor means, said reservoir comprising a pair of substantially parallel side walls extending transversely of said conveyor means and a back wall between said side walls capable of moving towards and away from said opening to vary the capacity of the reservoir, thereby to accommodate in the reservoir fluctuations in the rate at which cigarettes are conveyed by said conveyor means.

7. A conveyor system for conveying cigarettes from at least one cigarette-making machine to a plurality of packing machines, comprising conveyor means to convey cigarettes in a direction transverse to their axes, hopper chutes, one for each packing machine, extending downwardly from said conveyor means to receive cigarettes therefrom, at least one reservoir located above said conveyor means in juxtaposition to a hopper chute, said reservoir having an opening communicating with said conveyor means which constitutes the sole entrance to and exit from the reservoir enabling cigarettes to enter the reservoir from said conveyor means and to return from the reservoir to said conveyor means, said reservoir comprising a pair of substantially parallel side walls extending transversely of said conveyor means and a back wall between said side walls capable of moving towards and away from said opening to vary the capacity of the reservoir, thereby to accommodate in the reservoir fluctuations in the rate at which cigarettes are conveyed by said conveyor means.

8. An article-conveying system comprising conveyor means to convey and confine a flow of articles along a flow path, article-receiving means towards which articles in said flow path are conveyed, at least two reservoirs to receive articles and located adjacent said flow path, means defining an opening to each of said reservoirs by which each reservoir communicates with said flow path,

each of said openings enabling articles to move into each reservoir from the flow path and into the flow path from each reservoir, each of said reservoirs including a wall movable towards and away from said opening to vary the capacity of the reservoir, thereby to accommodate in the reservoir fluctuations in the flow rate of said articles, and a passage juxtaposed to the opening to each of said reservoirs communicating with said flow path to receive articles therefrom and through which articles can pass to said article-receiving means.

9. An article conveying system as claimed in claim 6 wherein said conveyor means comprises first conveyor elements for feeding articles towards the opening to said first mentioned reservoir and juxtaposed passage and further separately controlled conveyor elements for feeding articles between said opening to said first-mentioned reservoir and juxtaposed passage and the opening in said further reservoir and juxtaposed passage, said system further comprising first and second sensing means responsive to movement of said movable walls in each of said reservoirs respectively to detect fluctuations in the flow rate of said articles, said first sensing means being operative to control said first conveyor means to vary the flow rate of said articles and said second sensing means being operative to control the operation of said further conveyor elements, said movable wall in each of said reservoirs being biased to engage articles in the reservoir and be moved thereby.

10. An article conveying system according to claim 6, for conveying articles to a plurality of packing machines wherein each said passage constitutes a hopper chute leading to a packing machine.

11. An article-conveying system comprising conveyor means to convey and confine a flow af articles along a flow path, article-receiving means towards which articles in said flow path are conveyed, a passage having an entrance communicating with said flow path to receive articles therefrom and through which articles can pass to said article-receiving means, a rotatable member having a cylindrical surface adjacent said entrance to prevent choking of articles entering said passage, a reservoir to receive articles and located adjacent said flow path, means defining an opening to said reservoir by which the reservoir communicates with said flow path, said opening enabling articles to move into the reservoir from the fiow path and into the flow path from the reservoir, said reservoir including a wall movable towards and away from said opening to vary the capacity of the reservoir, thereby to accommodate in the reservoir fluctuations in the flow rate of said articles.

12. A conveyor system for cigarettes and other rodlike articles, comprising a conveyor for delivering transversely lying articles; means defining a junction zone into which the conveyor delivers the said articles; means defining a delivery channel through which articles are delivered from the junction zone; and a reservoir comprising wall means defining a reservoir channel which is of uniform transverse cross-section at various points along the length of the channel to receive an article stack of uniform crosssection, and defining also an opening adjacent to the junction zone through which articles enter and leave the reservoir, and including within the reservoir channel a transverse wall member which moves bodily towards and away from the said aperture so as to vary the length of the reservoir in accordance with the relationship between the flow rates to and from the junction zone, while maintaining the article stack within the reservoir channel at a substantially uniform cross-section.

13. A conveyor system according to claim 12 in which the articles entering the junction zone on the conveyor, and the articles passing out of the junction zone through the delivery channel, are respectively in stack formations, means being provided to cause the transverse cross-sections of said respective stack formations to be substantially the same.

14. A conveyor system according to claim 13 wherein said means for causing the transverse cross-section of each of the said stacks entering and leaving the junction zone to be substantially the same causes said transverse cross-section to be the same as the transverse cross-section 15 with the said float means for controlling the movement of the conveyor in accordance with the position of the float means.

18. A conveyor system according to claim 17 in which the said control means causes the conveyor speed to rise progressively as the float means progressively drops, and to fall progressively as the float means progressively rises.

19. A conveyor system according to claim 17 in which the said control means causes the conveyor to stop moving when the sensor means reaches a predetermined upper limit, and causes the conveyor to start moving when the float means reaches a predetermined lower limit.

20. A conveyor system according to claim 17, including a second horizontally moving conveyor for delivering a stack of articles horizontally from the junction zone.

21. A conveyor system for feeding cigarettes and other rod-like articles, comprising a horizontally moving conveyor for feeding a stack of articles lying transversely in relation to the direction of movement of the conveyor;

0 means defining a junction zone into which the conveyor rod-like articles, comprising a horizontally moving conveyor for feeding a stack of articles lying transversely in relation to the direction of movement of the conveyor; means defining a junction zone into Which the conveyor delivers the said articles; a top wall parallel to the said conveyor for confining the upper surface of the stack of articles as it approaches the junction zone, the top wall being at a predetermined height above the conveyor; a chute extending downwards from the junction zone and comprising parallel walls spaced apart by a distance substantially equal to the said predetermined height; float means above the junction zone movable up and down in accordance with the upward pressure of the articles beneath the float means; and control means associated delivers the said articles; a top wall parallel to said conveyor for confining the upper surface of the stack of articles as it approaches the junction zone; a chute extending downwards from the junction zone and comprising parallel Walls spaced apart so as to convey a stack of articles from the junction zone; float means above the junction zone movable up and down in accordance with the upward pressure of the articles beneath the float means; and control means associated with said float means for controlling the movement of the conveyor in accordance with the position of the float means.

RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,535,069 Dated October 20, 1970 Inventor(s) Desmond W. Molina et al.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, just above Abstract of the Disclosure, "21 claims" should read 10 claims Claims 1 through 11 should be deleted.

Sigurd and Scalcd this Fourteenth D a) of March I978 [SEAL] Ant":

RUTH C. MASON LUTRELLE F. PARKER Attetting Oflicer Acting Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks 

